WEBSITE PLANNING

Define How Long Website Inquiries Are Kept

Create a retention decision worksheet for business and qualified privacy review, without guessing a universal deadline.

List where inquiries actually live

A form can leave copies in a database, inbox, CRM, export and backup. Inventory those locations, access owners and the purpose of each copy. Do not assume deleting a dashboard row removes the same information from every destination. Start with the fields collected and ask why each remains necessary after the inquiry is resolved.

Assign a decision owner

The FTC recommends a written retention approach when information must be kept for business or legal reasons. It should address what is retained, protection, duration and disposal. This worksheet does not prescribe a legally sufficient period. The responsible business and qualified adviser should resolve applicable obligations and any legitimate hold before deletion rules are activated.

Work through a hypothetical record

For a fictional unconverted inquiry, record the original purpose, current status, system locations and who can authorize disposal. Add a field for unresolved obligations rather than assuming every closed inquiry can be deleted immediately. Separately review a completed customer project whose records may serve different purposes. A single age-based rule may not match both cases.

Make the approved decision implementable

Translate the approved policy into clear triggers and accountable steps. Identify whether backups age out on a schedule and how restored data will respect prior decisions. Test the workflow with non-sensitive sample records and preserve evidence that the process ran without retaining the deleted contents unnecessarily. Revisit the inventory when a new form field, service provider or integration adds another copy.

Apply this to your website

Bring the relevant URL and a description of the decision to request a scoped website review. Do not send passwords or private customer records. The primary reference is the linked technical guidance.